


Reddie Tumblr Prompts

by moonlightrichie



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kisses, Kisses in the rain, Love Confessions, M/M, Reddie, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Soft Boys, Tumblr Prompt, dumbasses in love, kisses in the snow, kissing in the water, mentions of sex and alcohol and smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-14
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2020-12-16 08:02:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21032942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlightrichie/pseuds/moonlightrichie
Summary: Just a collection of tumblr prompts and tiny drabbles.





	1. Kissing by the river

“Rich?”

The only sound Richie had been hearing before Eddie’s soft voice cut through the air had been the movement of the river. The trickling of drops edging over tiny stones and hitting a lower-surface level of water underneath; like a tiny waterfall. He’d been listening to the gentleness of wind pushing the river around, making waves in the water as well as in his hair, locks moving with the breeze.

But he’d also been listening to his own heart beating. Well, not as much hearing it as he had been feeling it thumping inside his chest, hurried with nerves.

Because Eddie was finally here, taking a seat next to him on the wooden bench, and Richie’s heart couldn’t stop thundering. It was beating so harshly inside him that it hurt, and there was no way Eddie couldn’t hear the bass of its pulses. And suddenly Richie ached to talk and talk just so Eddie wouldn’t, but his words got stuck in his throat.

He didn’t even notice his hands shaking before Eddie grabbed his left one, soft skin caressing Richie’s, and then their fingers were laced together and Eddie was smiling at him so softly that Richie couldn’t help but smile back.

The sparkle of Eddie’s eyes, the curl if his pink lips; in an instant Richie was relaxed and so full of love, the nerves numbed down and barely noticeable inside his butterfly-filled stomach. There was no need to feel nervous or scared, he knew. This was Eddie, Richie’s absolute favorite person in the world, his first love; biggest love, _only_ love. And even though he was only 15, there was no doubt in his mind that he’d never love another person the way he loved this beautiful boy sitting beside him.

Thighs pushing together, fingers locked and shy gazes shared as the river filled the air with its music. Richie was sure the Kenduskeag had never seen love like this either.

It was starting to get late, sky filled with a green light where the sun had disappeared only half an hour ago. It was calming.

“I’m…” Richie stopped, tongue weighing heavily in his mouth. With a soft reassuring squeeze of his hand from Eddie he took a deep breath, trying to pull the air all the way down to his stomach and hoping it would slow down his beating heart. “We’re together, right?”

He didn’t even dare looking at Eddie anymore now that his question hung in the air, heart increasing in speed with every passing moment of silence.

They’d never discussed it before, never even kissed, but Richie had been wondering for too long and now he needed to know. Because they _were_ dating, right? They held hands; they cuddled. Under the covers of Richie’s bed during sleepovers, in the hammock or in the barrens underneath their special tree, all safe spaces. Except they never did it around anyone else other than the Losers. They were _always_ touching. Even if it was just pinkies locked together, Richie’s arm slung over Eddie’s shoulders or their ankles hugging each other underneath tables; always touching.

Richie had never gotten any confirmation, but he thought of Eddie as his boyfriend. Being a boy in love with another boy in the homophobic town of Derry should be scarier, but feeling Eddie’s soft hand in his only made him feel safe. The only scary part was Eddie not feeling the same thing.

But then Richie felt a push against his side as Eddie scooted impossibly closer, his hand reaching for Richie’s cheek and turning his head so they’d be face to face.

“Sure we are”, Eddie smiled, and Richie’s heart was racing. Soon there would be a heart-shaped hole in his chest where his heart had pushed out, excitedly jumping right into the palms of Eddie’s hands.

Richie felt his breath hitch at how close they were now, and he blinked behind magnified glasses. “Like, we’re boyfriends?”

He really needed it as clear as it possibly could be.

Eddie laughed, bright and beautiful, and not for the first time Richie wished he had that sound on recording to listen to every night before bed. “Yes, silly.”

The feeling washing over Richie in that moment was indescribable. It was relief and warmth and happiness all at once, fear and nerves gone with the breeze still making waves in the river. A breathless laugh escaped him and Eddie was soon joining him, the only sound in the air mixing in with the water running beside them.

He pulled himself together finally, feeling like he lost himself for the last few minutes and he reached out to pinch Eddie’s cheek. “I’m not silly, _you’re_ the silly one, Eds. My silly spaghetti, Silly Spaghilly, Eddie Sillghetti, Eds Sillg-”, Eddie interrupted him with a push, but before Richie could lose his balance and fall off the bench, Eddie pulled him back with a fierce grip on Richie’s forearm. And suddenly they were even closer than before, the tips of their noses rubbing together and breaths hitting each other’s lips.

“Don’t you dare ever call me that again”, Eddie whispered, and the words were similar to the ones he’d always mutter when Richie called him nicknames. But they sounded different this time, softer, not harsh or annoyed like they usually were. It was said with such affection that Richie couldn’t help himself one last time.

“My Spaghetti”, he whispered back tenderly, voice thick with emotion as he rubbed his nose against Eddie’s and eyes closed.

This time Eddie didn’t push him, didn’t mutter ‘don’t call me that’ like normal, but instead he laughed. He felt the side of Eddie’s nose slide forward, the cold tip soon pressing under Richie’s eye and making his glasses dig into his face.

He opened his eyes and saw Eddie looking downwards at Richie’s lips before glancing up to meet his gaze. Richie was the one to close the distance, meeting Eddie in a clumsy first kiss.

Neither of them knew what they were doing, but it was more than Richie could ever dream of, the soft push of lips together. Richie’s glasses were digging into his face, and he could feel his brows furrowing and he forced his face to relax, but he never wanted it to end. With lips tingling and hands itching to reach out to touch Eddie, he let his hand settle around Eddie’s neck, thumb softly stroking his cheek.

Richie opened his eyes briefly just to make sure all of it was real, and sure enough, he was met with the beautiful sight of Eddie right in front. Eyes closed and dark eyelashes resting against his freckled cheeks, hiding away those pretty brown eyes, and he was really kissing Eddie Kaspbrak. Richie’s first, biggest and only love; and the most wonderful boy was kissing Richie right back.

“I love you”, Richie murmured into Eddie’s lips, pulling away just enough to get those words out before kissing him again, his bottom lip fitting perfectly between Richie’s.

Eddie let out a laughing breath through his nose at that, air warm and damp against Richie’s cheek. “I love you too.”

Richie didn’t even realize he was crying until Eddie’s thumb wiped over his cheek, smearing the tears deeper into his pores, the wetness impossible not to notice. Pulling away, he could only shrug at Eddie’s questioning look.

“Sorry”, he said wetly. “I’m just so happy.”

“You’re crying happy tears because I said I love you?” Eddie asked.

Richie nodded.

“Well, that’s embarrassing”, Eddie joked, making Richie laugh.

“Shut up”, he murmured, his brain too overwhelmed to come up with a response.

As he leaned in for another kiss, all he could hear was the sound of water running, whooshing down the river, and he felt safe.


	2. Kissing in the rain: missing each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Kissing in the rain because they miss each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Ruve for this cute lil prompt !!

Eddie saw Richie before Richie saw him.

With wet curls sticking to his forehead, several inches taller than everyone else around him, he was looking frantically through the crowd. He was wearing an ugly t-shirt with some weird circle print and a colorful cupcake in the middle, something you’d find in the 9-year-old girl section at Target except big enough to fit a six foot three man. It was raining; the least he could have done was to put on a jacket.

Eddie couldn’t help the grin spreading over his face at the sight of his boyfriend and before his mind could catch up, his body had reacted and was already running. Wrestling through the crowd and murmuring ‘sorry’ to each person he stumbled past, he slowly managed to make his way through the train station.

He registered water starting to seep through the back of his neck and running down his back, soaking his sweater in seconds. Only for a brief moment did he feel annoyed, the thought ‘_why the _hell_ is this train station outside_?’ on repeat in his brain. But then his eyes landed on Richie again.

Richie, who seemed to just have noticed Eddie making his way towards him, was smiling so brightly that for a moment Eddie thought it was a sunny day and not raining like it really was. It was like tunnel vision, everything around him fading into an irrelevant darkness and all Eddie could see was Richie. With his stupid shirt, curls dripping with water and his new purple-framed glasses covered in raindrops, he was the only thing that mattered. Lighting up the station as if Eddie’s gaze was a spotlight, only ever working when looking at Richie.

And then Richie was running too, pushing through the crowd and yelling Eddie’s name.

“Eddie, my love!”

A giggle erupted from Eddie’s lips, heart beating wildly with happiness from hearing Richie’s voice for real again.

For some dumb reason the two of them had decided to go to different colleges after high school, Richie ending up in California and Eddie in New York. Both of them loved their programs and teachers too much to quit now and they just needed to make it through these next couple of years until graduation. The plan was for them to find an apartment together in California after, Richie’s part time job at the local radio station the tipping point in their decision for Eddie to be the one to move.

But the two of them hadn’t seen each other since Easter. Having gone more than two months without seeing his man, Eddie felt a new surge of adrenaline course through his veins, and he ran just a little bit faster. The puddles on the ground splashed underneath his feet, soaking through his sneakers withing less than half a minute. But he didn’t even notice, only pushing forward to get to his boyfriend.

He didn’t waste a second jumping into Richie’s open arms, legs wrapping around his waist and arms clinging around Richie’s shoulders. Richie chuckled happily into Eddie’s ears, and Eddie’s toes curled at the sound.

“Hi, baby”, Richie whispered, hand running through Eddie’s hair and face pushing into the crook of Eddie’s neck. “God, how I’ve missed you.”

“Hi Rich.” Eddie’s voice was muffled against Richie’s shirt and he pulled back to get a good look at him. The gray light from the cloudy sky made him look paler than usual, the splatter of freckles dark in comparison. He looked tired, dark rings showing underneath his eyes and magnified by his dripping glasses. But he was beautiful, and Eddie was so utterly in love.

Putting a his hand on Richie’s wet cheek, he leaned down to finally kiss him for the first time in what felt like forever. It wasn’t even much of a kiss with how wide both of them were smiling, but Eddie didn’t care. He just wanted to push his face into Richie’s, feel their skin touch, noses rubbing together and grinning lips brushing.

“I’ve missed you so much”, Eddie mumbled, shaking his head in disbelieving relief over the fact that he could finally feel Richie against him again. Their noses bumped at the movement.

Water was dripping down from both of their eyelashes, faces slick from the rain. They managed a proper kiss, lips sliding together, wet and sloppy. It was perfect.

“I love holding you like this, Eds, making me feel all big and strong.” Richie put their foreheads together. “But my arms are burning right now.”

“Oh, oops, sorry love.”

As Eddie was put down, he finally noticed how cold he really was and he shivered in reflex.

“Let’s get you out of the rain and warm you up.” Richie still had his arms around Eddie’s waist. “I was thinking hot bath? Hmm?” He kissed Eddie’s cheek.

“Oh, fuck yes.”

“That too.”

“Oh?” Eddie looked up at Richie with raised brows. “In the bath then?”

“Of course.”

They grinned at each other, and Eddie suddenly remembered Richie was only wearing a t-shirt.

“Wait, shit, you must be freezing”, he picked up the bag he’d dropped and started dragging Richie with him in a hurry to get inside. “What the fuck are you doing not wearing a jacket, you dumbass?”

“Awe, Eds, you worried about lil ol’ me?”

Eddie rolled his eyes fondly, ignoring Richie’s comment in his desperate attempt to get through the crowd. As soon as they got away from people, Eddie plopped down his bag to look through it. It was already soaking wet anyways.

Pulling out a jacket he’d borrowed (taken) from Richie a long time ago and never given back, he handed it over to a shivering Richie.

“Put this on so you don’t get sick.”

“So demanding. _Sexy_”, Richie winked, but the way his teeth were clattering made his suggestive tone lose its impact.

“We only got so much time together before I have to leave again and I’ll be damned if you spend half of it in your bed coughing up your lungs.”

With a soft smile, Richie finally put the jacket on, tugging it around himself. It wasn’t the warmest jacket out there, but at least it was something.

“Now, about that bath”, Eddie raised his brows again, reaching for Richie’s hand and lacing their fingers together.

“I bought a pink bath bomb for us”, Richie grinned, looking so proud. “It was called ‘Sex bomb’.”

Eddie laughed, because of course that was the one Richie would buy.

Happiness enveloped him as the two of them walked towards Richie’s tiny shoebox apartment. And even with the cold rain soaking through his jacket and pooling inside his shoes, a squelching noise sounding with every step he took, now that he had Richie’s hand in his, all he felt was warmth.


	3. Kissing in the snow: confessing feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Kissing in the snow and confessing feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Amelia for the cute prompt !

Richie was in the battle zone.

Balls of snow came hurdling at him from his right in a wicked speed, all of them missing him as he ran. His fingers were freezing, melted snow having soaked through his thin gloves. They weren’t exactly made for making snowballs.

He couldn’t think about that now, though, all his focus instead on just making it to safety. Beverly and Stan were yelling encouragingly at him, both gesturing from behind the wall for him to get over there.

From somewhere in the distance he could hear Eddie shriek: “he’s getting away!” and he pushed on, trying to quicken his pace. It was heavy carrying himself through the thick layer of snow, his boots sinking deep into it with every step.

“I’m out of ammo!” Ben yelled.

And then. Mike’s screaming voice (“Hit him, Bill!”) was the last thing Richie heard before falling to the ground from the impact of Bill’s snowball hitting him in the face. Perfectly aimed, right into his cheek, and he was down, glasses flying off of his face.

“_Noooooo_!” It was Beverly and Stan. Chaos all around him; he couldn’t see, couldn’t feel anything other than cold snow seeping down his neck and into his shirt. Everything was blurry and he couldn’t tell up from right anymore.

“Alright, time out”, a muffled voice said from somewhere far away. Richie couldn’t keep track of what was happening around him.

And then: an angel. Sun like a halo and the smiling face of Eddie hovering over him as he put Richie’s glasses back on his face. He was laughing, but the look in his eyes showed that he was at least a little bit concerned. “You okay?”

Richie blinked, opening his mouth to reply, but no words came out. He felt warmth spread to his cheeks at how close Eddie’s face was to his own, and for a second he forgot he was cold. Snow was pushing inside of all open entrances of his clothes. Into his boots, his sleeves and underneath his jacket, it was everywhere. At least he could see now.

And what he saw was Eddie’s freckled face, skin tanned even though it was winter and lips quirked in a soft smile. Eddie’s lips never got chapped like Richie’s did during the winter because of all the amount of chapstick he used to keep them moisturized. Richie felt a sudden urge to push up on his elbows and kiss him.

He didn’t do that though.

Instead he shook himself out of the trance, grinning widely at Eddie.

“I am now that you’re here”, he reached up to pinch Eddie’s cheek. “My spaghetti in shining armor.”

Eddie’s smile was immediately replaced by a pouty frown (which didn’t help Richie’s want to kiss him), annoyance flashing in his eyes.

He pushed Richie’s hand away from his face. “Don’t call me that.” And then he was off of Richie, trudging back to his team. “You’ve got 10 seconds to take shelter before we’re starting again!”

Richie was back on his feet in an instant, stumbling to where Beverly and Stan were hiding from the other team.

“You did great out there, Richie”, Stan patted him on the back. “Still think it’s unfear they’re four and we’re three.”

“Bullshit, it’s unfear to _them_ cause you got me on your team”, Beverly winked at them.

She was right; she had the best aim out of all seven of them.

“I think we can do it”, Richie whispered, their heads close together. “Our last maneuver: we’ve got lots of ammo. They’re almost empty after throwing all of theirs at me- you’re welcome for my sacrifice by the way, I’m fucking soaked- anyways, I say all three of us jump out and attack at the same time.”

Beverly and Stan looked at each other before meeting Richie’s gaze with determination. “Let’s do it.”

“Okay, on three”, they all got into position. “One, two…”

Beverly was grinning.

“Three!”

And then they were running out and screaming, annihilating the other team in seconds, the four of them standing no chance against the fury of Team Glorious Cockrats.

Richie was walking with Eddie home after the fight, their hands brushing and sending sparks up Richie’s arm.

“I’m so fucking cold”, Eddie muttered, still sour after losing.

“It was fun, though!” Richie poked him in the side with his elbow.

“Yeah”, Eddie smiled slightly. “It was.”

Silence settled over them.

“Hold on.” Eddie stopped, reaching to pull of his scarf. “Hold this.”

As Richie’s hands were digging into the softness of Eddie’s scarf, Eddie opened his jacket to shake it. Remnants of snow fell out from the inside. “Fucking hell.”

Then his jacket was closed again and he was reaching for his scarf.

“Here, let me”, Richie mumbled, stretching the scarf out and putting it around Eddie’s bare neck. It was thick and long enough to absolutely drown him in it, head poking out from the cocoon cutely.

God, Richie was so absolutely head over heels in love with him.

He had been since he was a 12-year-old nerd with ugly glasses and crooked teeth. Even though he’d changed on the outside in the last six years, growing up into a full six foot two with new glasses and fixed teeth, his feelings for Eddie had stayed the same on the inside.

Not that he’d ever let Eddie know that.

But looking at Eddie now, with his brown eyes glittering and nose red from the cold, Richie couldn’t help himself. Eddie looked so damn cute and cuddly in his layered winter-attire, sniffling from between Richie’s arms, which were working on putting his scarf back on. His nose looked so soft and _damn_ cold and Richie leaned forward before he knew what he was doing. He pushed his nose to Eddie’s, rubbing back and forth to warm it up with his own.

Closing his eyes, he felt the soft skin of Eddie against his, enjoying their close proximity. With a happy sigh, he smiled to himself.

It was Eddie’s breath hitching that pulled him out of it, and Richie pulled away in shock when he realized what he was doing.

Eddie’s eyes were wide, mouth slightly agape.

“I, uhm…” Richie didn’t know what to say as he released his hold on Eddie’s scarf finally.

“Did”, Eddie stopped. “Did you just give me an Eskimo kiss?” His voice was breathless and confused, sounding slightly dazed.

“No?” Richie laughed nervously.

“Yes, you did.” Eddie furrowed his brows.

“Well, then, if you knew that, then why’d you ask?” Richie’s heart was beating wildly inside his chest. _Why the hell had he done that_?

“Rich…”

“Nope.”

“Why’d you do that?”

“I don’t know”, Richie was panicking, hands starting to shake. He needed to get away.

“Richie.”

“Oh, look at the time”, he looked down at his watch-less wrist. “Time to get home.” He started jogging backwards, almost tripping over his feet.

“Richie, don’t you _dare_ walk away from me.” The strict tone in Eddie’s voice made Richie stop in his tracks.

With a sigh he put his hands in his pocket, shrugging in defeat. “What?”

“Just”, Eddie rubbed his hands together, a nervous tick he had. “Just come ‘ere.” His voice was much less sharp now, softer instead, slightly wobbly.

With timid steps, Richie walked back over, eyes refusing to meet Eddie’s gaze.

“Closer.”

He sighed, taking the tiniest of steps toward Eddie.

Then Eddie pushed up on his toes, getting all up in Richie’s personal space to push their noses together just like Richie had a minute earlier. His fingers were digging into Richie’s forearm to keep him from pulling away.

“What are you doing?” Richie whispered shakily.

“Giving you an Eskimo kiss”, Eddie whispered back before plummeting back down on his heels with a shy smile.

“You…” Richie didn’t know how to continue.

Without replying, Eddie only shrugged, eyes so sparkly and beautiful and timid smile so captivating.

“I’m in love with you”, Richie blurted, instantly putting a hand over his dumb mouth as soon as the words left his lips.

But instead of looking surprised like Richie thought he would, Eddie laughed. His eyes were creasing, lips stretched out in the most wonderful of smiles, and he looked the happiest he had ever looked. “Idiot, I’m in love with you too.”

Richie’s heart was still beating quickly, but suddenly for a different reason. “What?”

“I have been for years.”

Richie couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What?” he repeated dumbly. _How was Eddie acting so casual about this_?

With a roll of his eyes, Eddie reached up a hand to brush the back of it on Richie’s cheek. “I’m in love with you.”

“You are?”

There was a small shake to Eddie’s smile, pulling his arm away to rub his hands together again, and _oh_. Eddie was freaking out too. If Richie was to reach out and put a hand over Eddie’s heart, he’d probably be hearing it beat just as fast as Richie’s.

“Yeah”, Eddie whispered.

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah”, Eddie exhaled. “Holy shit.”

And then they were laughing, breathless and full of relief. Happiness burst into Richie’s heart and coursed through his veins. He couldn’t stop laughing. Wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist, he lifted him up and spun them around.

“We’re in love!” he screamed, voice sounding hysterical with the happiness pouring out of him.

Eddie was giggling, looking down at Richie with so much love that Richie felt dizzy. Immediately he stopped his spinning, suddenly way out of balance.

Hands were in his hair, fingers tangling in the curls. Finally putting Eddie back down to the ground but keeping his arms around his waist, he leaned down to rub their noses together.

“I love you”, he whispered. Now that he could finally say it out loud, it seemed he’d never be able to stop. “I really fucking love you.”

He pulled away to look at Eddie’s blushing face, brown eyes peering up at him with wonder.

“I love you too.” And then he was looking down at Richie’s lips briefly before meeting Richie’s gaze again. “Can I kiss you now?”

“Oh, fuck yes.” Richie leaned down, closing the distance.

Eddie’s lips were as soft as Richie had imagined, slotting together with Richie’s perfectly. Placing his hands on both sides of Eddie’s face, he sighed into the kiss happily, feeling Eddie’s forehead push against his.

His lips were tingling, tongue poking out to lick at Eddie’s bottom lip, the tip barely grazing the softness. With a content hum, Eddie opened his mouth to meet Richie’s tongue with his own. Richie bit down softly on Eddie’s lip, sucking it into his mouth barely before releasing it again. He could feel Eddie smiling, breathy laughs muffled.

Richie’s neck started to hurt from bending his head and without thinking it through, he started to lie down in the snow, pulling Eddie on top of him. It didn’t matter that his back was freezing when Eddie’s lips were so warm and lovely.

They kissed for a long time, neither wanting to break away from the other, but at some point it was impossible to ignore how cold he was. His entire back was soaked from the snow.

With a last wet peck, he pushed gently on Eddie’s cheek to make him stop. Eddie’s lips were glistening with Richie’s spit, plump and redder than before. He was beautiful.

“I kinda need to get up.”

“Holy shit!” Eddie scrambled to his feet, reaching out his hands to pull Richie up from the ground. “Sorry.”

“I’m not complaining”, Richie winked, “and to imagine we could have been doing that for years already.” His hands were back on Eddie’s hips, thumb pushed up underneath Eddie’s jacket to touch bare skin.

“We’re so dumb.” Eddie was shaking his head slightly.

“Do you wanna come over to my place?” Richie’s thumb started stroking at Eddie’s hip. “Make up for lost time?”

Already nodding, Eddie laced their fingers together and started dragging Richie after him.

The sound of Richie laughing echoed down the snow-filled street.


	4. Kissing in the kitchen: hurt feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissing in the kitchen because of hurt feelings + confessing

Richie had just been trying to enjoy himself.

He’d had a few beers, smoked with Bev out on the porch and danced to the bass-filled music currently shaking his classmate’s house. At some point he’d been making out a little with Lisa from English class, the two having found each other on the dance floor. Nothing serious, just harmless fun; something the two of them would never talk about again after tonight.

Nothing he’d done throughout the entire night was bad, he was pretty sure. It was a party after all. There were some people having sex in the parents’ bedroom and others smoking weed in the basement. Richie hadn’t done any of those things, and not that he found any of the two to be especially bad either. If he’d wanted to, he probably could have been with Lisa from English class in one of the second floor bedrooms right now, getting it on.

But he wasn’t.

Because before he’d even thought about going that far, Eddie had put a hand on Richie’s bicep, pulling him away with fingers digging harshly into his soft flesh.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he’d spit out angrily, not letting go of Richie’s arm until they were standing alone in the kitchen, putting his hands on his hips and staring Richie down with lightning in his eyes.

Richie hadn’t known how to respond, because how was he supposed to reply to that? Instead he’d just blinked, doing a double take as Eddie’s words processed in his brain. He hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was Eddie being so mad at him right now?

But now Eddie was yelling, a finger pointing crossly at Richie and Richie really didn’t know what the fuck was going on.

“I can’t believe you just did that! Like, how do you think that made me feel, huh? I guess you didn’t think of that ‘cause you only think about yourself!” Eddie put his hands to his temples while inhaling, and Richie prepared for a new outburst. “And don’t even get me started on…”

At this point he tuned out of the conversation, his brain too damn confused to get a grip on reality. He wasn’t that drunk, was he? So why couldn’t he figure out what he’d done?

“Eddie”, he interrupted, starting to feel angry himself. What Eddie was doing was extremely uncalled for, totally unnecessary and Richie wasn’t just going to stand there and take it. “Why the fuck are you being so mad right now?”

His tone was sharp, much sharper than he’d expected with his alcohol-infused brain still behind on everything happening around him. Eddie’s face changed immediately, going from angry to shocked, a disbelieving huff escaping him while he crossed his arms as if to say ‘_I can’t fucking believe you right now’_.

“You don’t know why I’m angry?” he raised his eyebrows, looking at Richie like he was stupid.

“Uh… no?” Richie shook his head with wide eyes.

“Well, you should.”

Richie had to stop to breathe for a moment, just trying to collect himself as he looked away from Eddie’s red face. He really couldn’t deal with this. “_Well_”, he began, dragging out the word. “I don’t. So why can’t you just tell me?”

Eddie stared at him for a moment, his face still tense in anger. “You made out with Lisa.”

That made Richie stop in his tracks because wow, that wasn’t what he expected Eddie to say. “_Uhhh_, okay?” Richie laughed humorlessly. “So?”

“_So_?” Eddie echoed, voice rising to a higher volume, power booming out of his tiny frame.

“Yeah, _so_!” Richie yelled right back in the same volume because no way was he going to let Eddie win. Nobody was louder than Richie Tozier and he took pride in that, thank you very much.

Eddie was fuming, huffs of air coming out of him regularly. With clenched fists he looked away from Richie, jaw tense. Richie had to stop himself from staring too long, because how the hell was Eddie still so beautiful when he was furious like this?

“I still don’t get what you’re so mad about.” Richie took a careful step towards him after a moment of silence.

“I’m not _mad_.”

“Well, you seem pretty mad if you ask me.”

“I’m not mad”. Eddie looked at him then, eyes shiny. “I’m fucking hurt, you asshole!”

And then Eddie was in Richie’s face, putting his hands on Richie’s chest and pushing him backwards. Pain shot through Richie’s back as he collided with the kitchen counter, elbow slipping as he tried to catch himself.

“Wow, what the hell!” Richie gaped at Eddie.

Only then did he see that Eddie was crying. Streaks of tears running down his soft cheeks and eyelashes sticking together, and Eddie was _crying_. Richie’s first instinct was to reach out to comfort him, to pull him into his chest and tucking him underneath his chin. The two of them had grown up learning how to make the other feel better when they were upset or sad.

But Richie had to stop himself when he remembered that _he_ was the reason Eddie was crying right now and he let his already outstretched arm fall to his side again. Disappointment flashed in Eddie’s eyes for only a moment before disappearing again.

“Eds, what’s going on?” Richie tried, feeling his eyes water up with tears too just at the sight of his Eddie all broken like that.

“You made out with Lisa”, was all Eddie said, repeating himself from earlier. He wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand, sniffling while he did so.

“I…” Richie groaned, pushing his glasses into his hair to rub at his eyes with cold fingers. “I really don’t know what you want from me, Eds.”

When he looked at Eddie again, he was filled with a new wave of emotions. Eddie looked so small, arms wrapped around his stomach as if trying to hold himself together. Tears were still falling from his eyes.

“I want you to _not_ want to make out with Lisa”, Eddie muttered, voice so quiet Richie almost hadn’t heard him.

But he _had_.

“What?”

“You heard me”, Eddie was whispering now.

“So, you don’t want me to want to make out with Lisa. Who do you want me to want to make out with then, huh? _You_?”

The words were out before Richie’d had time to process them in his brain, and he had to swallow down the truth behind them. He _did_ want to make out with Eddie, more than anyone else, because Richie was so absolutely in love with him.

Making out with Lisa was just a part of Richie’s attempts to get over Eddie. And now Eddie was mad at him for it, and Richie didn’t know what to do anymore. He couldn’t ever let Eddie know who he really wanted to kiss.

He was freaking out so much on the inside that he almost missed Eddie’s response. Just one little word, even quieter than earlier, voice shaking: "yeah."

His head snapped up to meet Eddie’s gaze, eyes widening when he saw the exposed truth in Eddie’s face, his bottom lip quivering. “Did you just…”

“Yeah”, Eddie interrupted, nodding tiredly, his eyes red from crying. _They must hurt_, Richie thought to himself.

He was in Eddie’s space in seconds, hands flying up to cradle his face and then they were kissing. Eddie reacted immediately, their lips pushed together desperately, tongues already meeting in the middle. It was wet, sloppy, way too much tongue and teeth clashing, but it was perfect to Richie, all his emotions pouring out and put into that one kiss.

“I’m sorry”, he breathed out before leaning back in, not wanting to separate their lips for too long. Eddie’s hands were pulling at his curls, trying to get closer to Richie than he already was. It didn’t matter that Richie’s glasses were pushing into his face uncomfortably when Eddie’s tongue was in his mouth.

Then Eddie pulled away just enough to break their kiss, breathing heavily into Richie’s face. “Don’t say sorry, I’m the one who should say sorry. I was jealous and unfair to you. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Still playing with Richie’s hair, he pushed their foreheads together. 

Richie chuckled. “No, I guess I did something right ‘cause it led to this.”

With a gentle push to Richie’s chest, Eddie blushed. But he was smiling, his eyes shining with happiness this time instead of unshed tears. “Asshole.”

Silence settled over them, both just breathing the other in. Background noise from the party finally faded back into Richie’s senses again, thumping trap beats and talking from the living room.

“I’m kind of in love with you if you didn’t already figure that out”, Eddie muttered, voice gentle.

“I’m kind of in love with you too.” Leaning down again, Richie pressed a soft kiss to Eddie’s lips, drinking in his content hum. Pulling away, he looked down at the wonderful boy in front of him. “But only kind of though”, he added with a wide grin.

Eddie laughed out loud, Richie’s favorite sound. “Asshole.”

They grinned at each other.

“No, but seriously”, Richie stroked at Eddie’s cheek. It was sticky from all the tears. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I never would have made out with Lisa if I knew. Especially if I knew I could have been making out with you instead.”

“Damn Lisa.”

“Hey”, Richie put a finger to Eddie’s chest. “You should be thanking her. Without her you wouldn’t be kissing these sweet, sweet lips tonight.”

“Uh huh”, Eddie nodded. “So I should thank the girl who had her tongue down my boyfriend’s throat 20 minutes ago? Makes sense.”

Richie blinked at Eddie for a moment, the words ‘my boyfriend, my boyfriend’ repeating themselves in his brain over and over again. Fireworks, rainbows, sparks and explosions erupted in every part of him: his brain, his heart; he was so full of love. If Eddie looked close enough, he’d probably see tiny hearts in Richie’s eyes.

“Boyfriend”, he cooed, nuzzling his nose into Eddie’s cheek.

Eddie smiled shyly. “That’s okay, right?”

“Of course, boyfriend”, Richie wrapped his long arms around Eddie’s neck, hugging him tightly. If he could, he’d stay like that forever with his boyfriend, Eddie.

_Eddie, his boyfriend_.

“So, boyfriend”, Riche’s voice was muffled in Eddie’s hair. “What do you say we leave this party and go do some boyfriend stuff?”

With a nod and a giggle, Eddie kissed Richie’s cheek. “Sure.”

If anybody else were asked, they’d have said that Richie overused the word ‘boyfriend’ for the next 30 seconds.

“Hey Stan, this is my boyfriend Eddie”, he’d told Stan, who was standing in the kitchen entrance with some classmates, while grinning so widely his cheeks were starting to hurt.

“Well hello ther’, m’ sweet lady”, he’d said to Beverly with a stupid voice when they met her in the hallway. “Hev ya met mah gargous fellafriend here?”

Beverly had high fived both of them with a giggle.

“Hey Lisa! I can’t make out with you anymore, I got a boyfriend now!” he’d announced to the entire party before they’d walked out the main entrance to leave, Lisa not even listening from where she’d been dancing with some other guy. Eddie had been blushing the entire time.

Richie didn’t care. He had the best boyfriend in the world and wanted everyone in the world to know.


	5. Kissing in a bar: first kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: First kiss in a bar

Eddie couldn’t stop staring.

He’d been staring since the guy had walked in, all lanky and tall, stumbling over his own feet while waving his arms around in an animated way. The guy’s friend had been looking at him with an unimpressed raise of his brows, but the guy had just kept talking. Finally settling in a booth, the two of them had looked around the room, and the guy had locked eyes with Eddie for a second, lips quirking into a charming smile.

Only then had Eddie looked away. After giving the man a suggestive smile of his own, he’d finally let his gaze wander back to the drink in front of him. Not wanting to seem too interested, but still hoping to have the guy’s attention, he took a sip, tongue swiping over the rim of the glass teasingly. Then he took a quick peek at the guy again, just for a moment, and was met with wide eyes behind glasses and mouth slightly agape.

Oh yes, he definitely had the guy’s attention.

Then Eddie saw him gesture to his friend that he was heading towards the bar, and the second he started getting up, Eddie whipped around in his chair. He was aiming for casual, sipping his drink and leaning his head in the palm of his hand, elbow on the counter.

It was obvious that Eddie was there alone; he knew that.

He really hadn’t had the best of weeks, his boss making him work overtime more than four nights that week as well as projects piling up on him. He still hadn’t done some of them and knew he’d have to use his entire Saturday working to catch up. But damn it, it was Friday night and Eddie had been in desperate need of a drink and some time to disconnect from his daily life.

He’s stepped into his favorite bar that night with no intention of hooking up. Honestly, he just wanted to relax and let himself breathe for a second. Seeing the entrancing stranger was just a coincidence. There wasn’t even guaranteed that the man was interested in men at all; it wasn’t a gay bar or anything.

A figure moved into Eddie’s peripheral vision, but he didn’t dare look. If the man _was_ interested, he’d have to be the one making a move. Eddie had given him enough hints already.

“Two beers, please”, he heard a bright voice say, a bartender already starting to fill up two glasses. The presence of the man was almost impossible to ignore, and even though he wasn’t even close to touching Eddie, there was still an electrifying aura to him, making goose bumps appear on Eddie’s arms.

Two beers were put on the bar top and the man still hadn’t said anything. Already Eddie could feel disappointment curl in the pit of his stomach and he took a sad sip of his drink.

But then the man kept standing there, and once again in his peripheral vision, Eddie could see the man taking a hesitant step towards him.

Finally he dared to look, immediately met with the shy smile of the man, freckles covering his pale cheeks. Blue eyes were gazing at Eddie behind ugly glasses, his wavy hair a mess. Still, it was oddly charming, and Eddie couldn’t help smiling back.

“Uhm, h-hi”, the man said, nervously biting his bottom lip.

“Hello”, Eddie let his chair spin so his body was directed more towards the man.

Silence settled over them for a short moment, the man seeming to fumble for his words. “I think I recognize you”, he ended up saying, eyes roaming over Eddie’s face.

“Is this a pick-up line?” Eddie raised his brows, smiling slightly.

“Oh! No!” The man’s eyes widened. “God, it really came across like that, didn’t it? I mean, it could be - you’re cute as hell, so if you want it to be a pick-up line, then it definitely can be. Shit, I’m rambling. No, what I meant is that you’re friends with Bill, right?”

The guy pressed his lips together, cheeks turning into a cute pink color at his rambling. Eddie blinked as he processed the man’s words. “Wait, you know Bill?”

The guy nodded. “Yeah, we’re taking a couple of the same classes. We were in the same study group last semester actually. I recognized you from his Instagram.”

Once again, Eddie had to process the guy’s words, blinking as he did so. “Oh.”

“Shit, this is weird, isn’t it”, the guy rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. “I just saw you sitting alone, thought I’d ask you if you wanted to join me and my friend.”

He nodded his head in the direction of the booth where his friend sat, a curly-headed man scrolling through his phone with a bored look on his face.

“I’m so sorry for bothering you.” The guy smiled apologetically, grabbing the two beers and starting to turn around.

“No, wait!” Eddie was already standing up. “You’re not bothering me.”

The man stopped in his tracks, cocking his head to the side as he looked at Eddie. “I’m not?”

“No, the offer is really sweet actually, especially since you don’t even know me.”

“Well, I’d love to get to know you… uh…?” the man stopped, a questioning look taking over his face.

“Eddie.”

The man smiled. “Well Eds, I’m Richie.”

Eddie ended up having a really great time with Richie and his friend, Stan (“Hey, Stan the Man, this cutie is friends with Bill!” Richie had exclaimed as the two of them sat down in the booth). Apparently Stan knew Bill from class too and their conversation started with talking about their mutual friend before moving on to different things. Music, movies, pets; they ended up talking about anything coming to mind, conversation flowing easily.

Eddie could feel himself getting tipsier and tipsier as the night moved on and the three of them took turns buying rounds. At some point Eddie had ended up pressed into Richie’s side, his shoulders tucked underneath Richie’s arm. It was nice.

“Next round’s on me”, Stan started getting up, stumbling a little as he did, probably a little drunker than he thought he was. “_Aaaand_ I think it’ll be our last for tonight.”

The three of them laughed and then Stan was gone.

“Hey”, Richie’s breath hit Eddie’s ear and turning around to look at him, Eddie was met with Richie’s grin, his face way closer than Eddie had expected. “You having a good time?”

“I am”, Eddie smiled back widely, teeth showing and everything. “Are you?”

Richie leaned forward, his nose poking into Eddie’s as he closed his eyes. “I am.”

Feeling his breath hitch, Eddie swallowed loudly. “Good.” He sounded breathless even to his own ears.

“I’m sorry for being all weird earlier.” Richie admitted, opening his eyes again. “I get a little nervous around cute guys.”

“No, it was charming”, Eddie giggled. “And besides, I _was_ trying to seduce you to come over when I saw you walk in.”

Richie leaned back then, his finger poking Eddie in the chest. “I _knew_ it.”

Rolling his eyes, Eddie scooted closer so they’d be nose to nose again. “Oh, please, I wasn’t exactly trying to hide it.”

“No? So you think I’m a little cute too?”

“Very much so.”

Richie placed a hand on Eddie’s thigh, warmth radiating from his palm, burning through his jeans. Taking a quick look down at his lap, Eddie couldn’t stop admiring how big Richie’s hand was, covering _so_ much of his thigh, so close to his crotch area where his dick twitched in interest at the contact.

The look on Richie’s face was all too inviting, and Eddie was the one initiating the kiss, connecting their mouths before he could think too much of it. A second passed as Richie stiffened, but Eddie didn’t have time to panic and scramble away ‘cause then Richie reacted. With his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and the other on his thigh, Richie pulled Eddie closer, turning Eddie towards him.

Something wet was licking at Eddie’s bottom lip, and Eddie opened his mouth to meet Richie’s tongue with his own. It was eager yet soft, and Eddie wanted to melt into Richie’s side and never leave.

Letting his hands drift up Richie’s body, stroking at his sides before settling around the back of his head, fingers pulling tenderly on the rough locks. He felt Richie’s hand inch closer to his crotch, stopping right before he reached Eddie’s cock. And oh, Eddie was not that daring in public. Immediately, he removed his hand from Richie’s hair to settle over the hand on his thigh.

“Not here”, Eddie whispered into Richie’s lips.

Richie hummed in acknowledgement, not moving his hand any further but not removing it either.

For how long they sat kissing, Eddie wasn’t sure, but for all he knew it could have been 2 minutes or 20. All he knew when they finally broke apart was that Stan’s things were gone and there were two new beers on the table.

“Oh”, he looked over at Richie who was already pulling his phone out of his pocket.

“Text from Stan”, Richie laughed, pulling a hand through his hair as he started reading out loud. “_Saw you guys getting cozy when I was by the bar so I figured I’d head out. Got you your beers, though. Use protection, winky face_.”

“Wow.”

Both reached out for their beers at the same time, taking sips and letting silence settle over them.

Eddie didn’t know how to react to that, never having been in that kind of situation before. He locked eyes with Richie and the two stared at each other for a moment before bursting out into giggles.

“Oh my god”, Eddie managed between laughs, feeling his face heat up both from the embarrassment of having his tongue down some guy’s throat in public and from laughing so brightly.

“Stan must have felt _so_ weird picking up his things while we didn’t even notice”, Richie had stopped laughing, grinning at Eddie with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, god, I don’t even wanna think about that”, Eddie groaned, leaning his head back against the book.

He could feel Richie looking at him for a moment and Eddie turned his head to look at him from hooded eyes.

“Fuck, uhm”, Richie licked his lips. “Do you want to come back to my place?”

Eddie nodded, already throwing his phone and wallet into his bag before Richie was even finished with his sentence. The sound of Richie’s breathy laughter made him turn around again to press a quick kiss to his lips. With a hand on Richie’s cheek he moved his eyebrows up and down once. “Let’s go.”

Then they were scrambling out of the booth and out the door, Richie waving his hands around desperately to hail down a taxi.


	6. Kissing in the kitchen: love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissing in the kitchen because of love

It was the bright sun peeking through the blinds that woke Eddie up, its light making him see red underneath his closed eyelids. He knew even before opening his eyes that it was gonna hurt and just like he expected, he was immediately blinded. Shutting his eyes harshly, he rubbed at them before trying again.

Blinking awake, slowly letting himself get used to the brightness, he pushed up on his elbows as he squinted around the room. For a second he was confused about his whereabouts, the remnants of dreams still hanging heavy inside his mind. He’d already forgotten what he’d dreamt about, but he could still see flashes of them, making an uncomfortable feeling form in his stomach. It hadn’t been nightmares, but dreams always made him feel weird.

He shook his head with a hand pressed to his forehead before finally settling into reality. Looking around the room bathed in soft light, his gaze finally landed on the sleeping figure next to him.

Richie was lying on his stomach, face squashed into the pillow and mouth slack with drool threatening to fall from his bottom lip. His dark locks were tangled from the night’s sleep, contrasting so strikingly with Richie’s pale skin. The comforter covered his bottom half, leaving his bare back out in the open, his freckles bathed in daylight.

Eddie could feel himself smiling, fond and full of love as he gazed at his husband sleeping so peacefully. Feeling happy tears burn in his eyes at the sight, he lied down softly, carefully scooting closer to Richie as to not wake him.

He let himself get as near as possible, their faces so close that Eddie could feel Richie’s heavy breathing fan over his lips. Closing his eyes, he relaxed into the pillow that they were now sharing, enjoying their close proximity. He moved in barely enough to rub his nose against Richie’s gently, sighing contentedly.

For the next couple of minutes, he let himself breathe for a moment, his heart settling into a steady beat and muscles sinking into the soft mattress underneath. He could feel Richie’s warmth radiating from his body, filling Eddie with a safety he couldn’t get from anywhere else.

Then he moved away quietly, sitting up in bed and stretching his stiff limbs, finally getting up for the day.

Richie was still asleep when Eddie left the room.

After taking a shower and putting on his most comfortable sweatpants and fluffy socks as well as Richie’s ‘_Boys who skate are better at grindin’_-sweater (Eddie had always found it dumb as Richie had never touched a skateboard in his entire life), he retreated into the kitchen to start on breakfast. He put on some soft music to play in the background, silently humming along as he made the pancake batter; Richie’s favorite.

Eddie was halfway through making the actual pancakes when he heard noises from upstairs. A half-full plate was already sitting on the counter and enveloping the house with the sweet smell.

A soft padding sound made Eddie turn his head, and down the stairs came a disheveled looking Richie with glasses sitting crookedly on the bridge of his nose, only in his boxers, hair sticking out in every direction and pillow-marks on his cheek. He smiled dopily when he saw Eddie making pancakes, trudging across the kitchen floor on naked feet to put his arms around Eddie’s waist from behind.

“Good morning baby”, Eddie said tenderly, putting his available hand on top of Richie’s where it rested on Eddie’s stomach.

“G’mornin”, Richie mumbled, face pushed into Eddie’s newly blow-dried hair. Eddie’s hair always got extra soft after he’d washed it and Richie loved touching it when it got like that.

They didn’t say anything after that, Eddie making breakfast with Richie glued to his back. Every once in a while, Richie would hum happily, trying to press himself closer to Eddie and tightening the grip around him.

Eddie didn’t know if it was possible to feel happier.

It was only when Eddie was done making the pancakes that he finally turned around in Richie’s arms, snaking his arms around Richie’s neck. Richie opened his eyes slowly, tired blues looking down into Eddie’s browns.

“Hi”, Eddie uttered.

“Hi”, Richie smiled, voice groggy from sleep.

Eddie reached up a hand to lift up Richie’s glasses and stroke underneath his eye, soft skin underneath his fingers as he swiped away some eye gunk that had dried there.

With a soft smile, Richie leaned down to rub their noses together. “My love.”

With a giggle, Eddie pushed up on his tippy toes to connect their lips in a _good morning_-kiss. Usually, Eddie wasn’t the biggest fan of morning breath, but his heart was beating so warmly in his chest, so full of love that he couldn’t resist. His Richie so soft and lovely right now, Eddie never wanted to do anything else.

Everything else faded away, all his senses filling up with _Richie Richie Richie_. The taste of him on his lip, his rough scent mixed in with the sweet smell of pancakes, the feeling of fingers underneath his sweater, stroking Eddie’s bare hip, his lips tingling from the kiss and Richie’s nose pushing against his cheek, the sound of Richie humming into the kiss; he was fully enveloped by Richie, and it was all _so_ lovely.

Richie pulled away then, just enough for them to look at each other properly.

“You made pancakes”, he grinned, semi-crooked teeth peeking out between his pink lips.

“I did”, Eddie confirmed, nodding his head as he leaned back on the kitchen counter.

“Have I ever told you I love you?” Richie sneaked around Eddie to pick up the plate of freshly made pancakes, kissing Eddie’s cheek as he did so.

“Yes.” Eddie smiled softly at his husband’s excitement, his heart so full of love it felt like it was going to burst. “Every day.”


	7. Kissing in the rain: a bet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kissing in the rain because of a bet.
> 
> A little inspired by the movie 'Remember Me'.

Richie’s week didn’t exactly get off to a good start.

When he’d woken up Monday morning to take a smoke before heading off to school, he’d never pictured his week going the way it had.

It started mildly, Richie forgetting to check the student pages to see that his 8am class had been cancelled and he’d gotten up early for nothing. Then he’d ended up stepping in dog shit on his way back home and at the exact same time, the weather gods had decided it was a good idea to provide the earth with some pouring rain. He’d been soaked within five seconds.

Nothing too bad, but just enough to make someone go “I’ve just had a really long hard day” before grabbing a beer from the fridge and settling down in the couch to watch Netflix for the rest of the night. He’d ended up messaging Beverly to meet him in the park to smoke weed, her reply a stream of heart-eyes and thumbs-ups.

The two had met, sitting down on their designated bench for the night, burning joints between their fingers. Both of them loved the park at night, especially their usual spot that was located on the other side of where the hobos slept.

But his bad Monday hadn’t ended there. In fact, it had only gotten started. Because that was when a stranger had stopped before them, a woman seeming to be around 50.

“You can’t smoke that”, she’d said. “It’s illegal.”

Richie and Beverly, high off their asses, hadn’t been able to stop their laughter, the woman frowning down at their disrespect. If Richie had been a little smarter, he’d have put the joint down, apologized and gone home. But no, instead his high brain had had to make it worse.

“I’m calling the police”, she’d muttered angrily before pulling out her phone.

Their laughter had stopped abruptly, both looking at each other desperately to figure out what they should do. Should they run? Try to convince the woman not to call the police?

Once again, had they been smarter, they’d have run. Instead though, dumb and disoriented as they’d been, they’d tried telling her not to call.

The woman had ended up not even having to call the police, because not even a second later, what appeared to be a cruising police car had driven by, stopping at the woman’s frantic gestures.

“Officers, I was just on my way home when I noticed these two…”

That was when they’d run for it, ending up with only making it worse.

If they’d _just_ been a _little_ smarter, they would have given themselves up paid a fine, but by running they’d bought one-way tickets into the cells for the night. 

Richie’s dad had had to pay bail for the both of them (“I’m taking this out of your inheritance, Rich”), and Richie had never felt more like a disappointment in his life.

It was Wednesday when Beverly came crashing into the group room where he was quietly studying (playing games on his phone) in the library on campus. “She’s got a son.”

Richie didn’t look up from his phone, barely paying attention. “Who?”

“That woman who busted us.”

He stopped, looking up at her. She was smiling like she was insane. “Okay?”

“You should ask him out.”

Doing a double take, he almost dropped his phone. “What?”

“Ask him out. Fuck him. Dump him”, Beverly was ticking the points off with her fingers.

Having no idea where she was going with this, he leaned back in his chair with a frown. “And why should I do that?”

“Revenge”, she said simply as if it was obvious.

“How is that revenge?”

She sighed. “I saw him, okay? She was dropping him off at school, and this uptight bitch has a super neat son, all ironed shirts and fucking gelled hair. She’ll hate that a guy like you not only touched her perfect little angel, but you broke his heart too, it’ll destroy her.”

Beverly was actually crazy.

“What the fuck?”

“It’s perfect!” She threw up her hands.

“Why can’t _you_ date him?” he raised his eyebrows.

“Uh, ‘cause I’m a lesbian?”

Richie scoffed. “Yeah, but maybe _he’s_ not into guys either, thought about that?”

Pursing her lips, she scratched at her chin. “Huh.”

“He can be straight for all we know.”

“Rich”, she sighed in frustration.

“No.”

“He’s cute”, she sang, rocking back and forth on her heels. “What’s the harm in trying?”

“I’m not going out with some choir boy.”

“Rich, he’s like totally your type, he’s…” She stopped abruptly, suddenly hitting his arm with her hand. “Oh my god, there he is!” She nodded her head towards the hallway.

“Fuck, why’s he gotta actually be cute, too?” Richie whispered too himself, hating how Beverly was right. Despite the proper clothing and neatly done hair, the guy didn’t give off the innocent nerdy vibe Richie had pictured when Beverly first described him. Instead his doe-eyes were fierce and bright as he sat down in one of the quieter corners of the library, lips pursing as he took out his notebook.

“Right?” Beverly tapped his shoulder. “Now go get ‘em, tiger.”

“No, no, no, no”, Richie panicked as she started dragging him out of his chair. “Bev, stop it right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

If Beverly hadn’t planned this whole thing asking the guy out, Richie probably would have put his moves on the guy on his own. Richie really couldn’t stop staring at him, soft freckled cheeks and with a gaze so sharp it could cut glass; he looked like a real rule-breaker.

“I’ll give you 20 dollars if you kiss him before the week is over”, she muttered into his ear, a perfectly tweezed eyebrow rising as the challenge burned in her eyes.

“A bet?” he almost wanted to laugh. “Really?”

She shrugged. “Apparently revenge wasn’t good enough.”

He hesitated.

“Oh come on, Tozier, you’d get the best end of the deal: revenge, 20 dollars and a kiss from a cute guy.”

He hated to admit that she was right once again. Finally, he nodded his head, and before he even knew what was happening Beverly was pushing him harshly in front of the table where the cute guy was focusing on his schoolwork.

The guy didn’t even look up when Richie stepped up, clearing his throat.

He tried to look back at Beverly for help, but she was hiding behind Richie’s English book.

He cleared his throat again. “Uh, hi?”

“Can I help you?” the guy said monotonously, still not looking up from his book.

“Did you know that bending your neck like that is, like, super bad for you?” the words were out before Richie could stop them, “even giving blowjobs is better for your neck.”

_Fuck, what the fuck was that_? He wanted to jump out the window.

The guy finally looked up, stopping his scribbling in his book. Narrowing his eyes at Richie, he looked him over. “Excuse me?”

“Like”, Richie laughed nervously, “if you gave a blowjob to someone, it would hurt less on your neck than how you’re si-”

“No, yeah, I got that”, the guy interrupted, holding a hand up to stop Richie from finishing his sentence. “What I meant was, excuse me, but who are you?”

Richie took a bow, one hand on his stomach and one sticking out to his side. “Richie Tozier at your service.”

The guy sighed. “Okay, Richie Tozier, what is it you want?”

“Uh…” he choked up, tongue fumbling in his mouth for words.

“Cause it sounded like you were asking me for a blowjob”, the guy pressed his lips together, eyebrows rising.

Richie’s eyes widened. “No, no! I…”

“So you _don’t_ want a blowjob?” and fucking hell, how the hell was Richie supposed to respond to that?

“Yes! Wait no! I mean you’re pretty cute, so I wouldn’t-, wait, fuck”, Richie stopped himself before he could embarrass himself even more. He took a deep breath, letting his shoulder sink in defeat. “I actually wanted to ask you out, but I say dumb shit when I get nervous. Sorry for bothering you.”

He started backing away, turning around with heat boiling in his cheeks. Never had he bombed so hard trying to pick someone up, but there was something about this guy that was extremely intimidating. Way too proper and good for someone like Richie. Richie, with his unwashed hair, chipped nail polish, broken glasses, crooked teeth and shoes with holes. He’d used those qualities to wow people before, girls finding the messiness somewhat charming.

There was really no chance that Richie could get a guy like that, and he wished he hadn’t let Beverly talk him into trying, embarrassment weighing heavily in the pit of his stomach.

“Okay, wait”, the guy’s voice tore into Richie’s thoughts, Richie turning around slowly.

“What?” he knew he sounded miserable.

The guy motioned him over with a finger, already starting to scribble something in the corner of his book. “I’m free tomorrow night.” He tore the corner off, reaching it out to Richie. “Here’s my number.” He was smiling now, eyes glinting. Oh boy was he out of Richie’s league.

Still, Richie took the note, looking at it with wide eyes before staring at the guy again. “I feel like you’re doing this out of pity.”

The guy laughed. “So what if I am? Are you going to take me out tomorrow or not?”

Nodding his head, Richie packed the note safely into his shirt pocket. “I am. You’re not gonna regret this.”

“I hope not”, the guy picked up his pencil again. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Hell yeah you will.” He started walking away before remembering something. “Hey, I never got your name?”

The guy looked up again. “Eddie.”

“Cute.” Richie winked before returning to a beaming Beverly, the two sharing a high five before leaving the library together.

Thursday night rolled around, and Richie was waiting outside the local pizza place, waiting for Eddie. He’d dressed as nice as he could: a button up that was actually one of his Hawaiian shirts only tucked inside his dark jeans instead of hanging loosely they normal. He’d washed his hair too.

“Hey”, a voice said to his right, and turning around, Richie’s gaze landed on Eddie, all dressed up in a silk shirt and dress pants. He was smiling at Richie.

“Hi.” Richie leaned down to give Eddie a quick kiss on the cheek in greeting, pushing his hands into his pockets.

The date went surprisingly well, Richie feeling much more relaxed after getting Eddie’s approval the day before, even if it was out of pity or not. He even forgot about the whole reason he’d had asked him out until Eddie mentioned his mom. Instantly, Richie’s chest felt like it was constricting, heart speeding up.

He hadn’t expected gaining genuine interest for the man in front of him, but Eddie was funny, smart and could actually keep up with Richie’s bullshit remarks, firing back just as easily as Richie fired out.

“I still live with my mom”, Eddie was dragging his finger over the top of his wine glass, going in circles as he talked. “She’s not very thrilled about the gay thing.”

Richie tried to swallow the lump in his throat with no success. “No?”

“She’s learning to live with it though”, Eddie stopped touching his wine glass, leaning his head in his hand as he looked at Richie with a smile. He laughed shortly. “Honestly I think she’d flip if she knew I was on a date with you right now.”

The lump only grew. “Oh?” he choked out, trying to seem casual. Normally he’d fire back with “that’s just ‘cause she’s jealous, Eds, she wants me all to herself”, but his heavy tongue couldn’t form the words.

“Yeah,” Eddie looked him over with shining eyes. “Smelling like cigarettes and all that, not exactly her favorite scent.”

At this point the lump was so big Richie could barely breathe.

When they were done eating and talking, the two decided to walk for a bit together, Richie offering to follow Eddie some of his way home, too scared of Eddie’s mom to offer to walk all the way.

Their hands were brushing with every step, Eddie looking up at Richie every once in a while. Richie could feel the guilt in his stomach building with each second, being around Eddie feeling like too much.

“I think I’ll turn around here”, he muttered in the end, smiling down at Eddie, hoping it didn’t look too forced.

“Okay”, Eddie was smiling. “I had a good time.”

“Me too”, Richie’s forced smile turned more genuine at that; he’d really meant it.

The two stood looking at each other for a moment, and just as Richie was about to say his goodbye, a drop of cold water hit the tip of his nose. Confused, he looked up to the sky, more rain soaking his face, and within seconds, it was pouring, Richie already blind from his glasses being fogged up with droplets.

“Well, see ya”, Richie muttered, desperate to get away so he could breathe. He started to turn away.

“You’re not gonna kiss me?”

Richie stopped, face snapping up to meet Eddie’s gaze, disappointment heavy on his beautiful features. “What?”

“All that and you’re not gonna kiss me?” Eddie’s brows were furrowed.

Richie was struggling to come up with a response, Beverly’s bet ringing in his ears.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” was the only thing he could think of to say.

“Do _you_ want to kiss _me_?”

He remembered the horrible night in the cell, his dad’s disappointed stare when bailing him out, the lecture of responsibility he’d received during the car ride home. He remembered the smug look on Eddie’s mom’s face when the police put Beverly and him into the backseat of the police car, the money he now owed his dad, taken out of his own inheritance. He remembered Eddie’s words: “_she’d flip if she knew I was on a date with you right now_”, and Richie felt some sort of satisfaction at kissing that terrible woman’s precious little son.

So Richie stepped forward, leaning down and capturing Eddie’s lips in a kiss, immediately kissing desperately and passionately with his tongue already licking into Eddie’s mouth. Their spit mixed in with the rain, their lips sliding together easily.

_‘She’d flip. She’d flip.’_

Oh she’d flip, alright. Eddie hummed, hands flying up to tug at Richie’s dripping hair, tongue quick to respond and meeting Richie’s just as desperately.

_‘Not very thrilled about the gay thing_.’

_Too bad_, he thought to himself. _Your son is being gay with me right now, what are you gonna do about it_?

They broke apart, Richie smiling down at Eddie.

“Wow”, Eddie breathed out. “Uh, will I get to see you again?”

_‘Ask him out. Fuck him. Dump him_’. Beverly’s voice rang in his ears. ‘_She’ll hate that a guy like you not only touched her perfect little angel, but you broke his heart too, it’ll destroy her_.’

Richie felt victorious, already pulling out his phone to text Beverly to send over the 20 bucks. “Absolutely.”


	8. Kissing on the sidewalk: missed each other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Kissing on the sidewalk because they missed each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A thank you to my darling Marika for the prompt!

Eddie had barely been inside the house before he was running out of it again.

Not wasting any time, he’d immediately carried his backpack upstairs to his room to drop it off there like his Ma had told him to. He’d thrown it on the floor as soon as he’d gone through the door, quick to run back downstairs.

“Going to see Richie!” he’d exclaimed to his Ma who had just carried the last of their luggage into the house.

For the last two months, the two of them had been away from Derry, visiting his aunts for the summer vacation. It had been his first time travelling away from his hometown, and sure it had been exciting. All five year olds found new things interesting.

Then again, he’d never been away from his friends for longer than a weekend at a time, and two months had really been too long. Two whole months without seeing Richie, and Eddie was desperate to get to him as soon as he possibly could.

“Don’t run too fast, Eddie-bear!” she yelled after him, standing on the porch and watching him zoom down the street.

It was lucky for him that Richie lived so close, or else his Ma would definitely have wanted to come along. He didn’t need that right now.

His short arms were swaying as he ran, shoes hitting the asphalt harshly and making vibrations shoot through his limbs. Almost feeling like adrenaline was moving his body, he laughed at the thrill of getting to see his friend again after so long. All of him was longing after Richie; his hugs, his hand in Eddie’s, their games of hide and seek, playing with cars.

Sometimes Richie would kiss his cheek too, something that always made Eddie bubble with happiness.

He could see Richie’s front door now, dark green and so familiar. Pushing his legs a little more, he managed to speed up, running so fast it felt like he was flying. He could barely feel his feet hitting the ground.

Then he was ringing the doorbell, feet tripping with excitement and hands clenched in little fists. It was Richie’s mom who opened the door, lips stretching into a warm smile when she saw who was at her porch.

He waved. “Hi Mrs. Tozier!”

“Hi Eddie”, she put her hands on her hips, “you here to see Richie?”

At the mention of Richie, he smiled toothily, exclaiming, “Yes!”

Laughing quietly, she turned around to face the inside of the house “Richie! There’s someone here for you!”

A second passed before there were sounds from the upstairs, Eddie’s grin only growing in anticipation as fast thuds started thundering from above. He could hear Richie starting to run down the stairs now, over-enthusiastic loud bangs of feet hitting the floor.

And there he was, Eddie could see him stop at the bottom of the stairs, all the way on the other side of the hallway. His curls had gotten a little longer and wilder with the same glasses sliding down his freckled nose. A blue eye patch was covering one of Richie’s eyes, his other one wide as he saw Eddie standing there.

And then he was running, moving so fast Eddie had no time to prepare for the crash of Richie’s body colliding into his. Their arms wrapped around each other, both screaming incoherently into each other’s ears.

They ended up sitting on the curb, their shoes scratching at the road underneath and their butts on the edge of the sidewalk. The summer weather was still hanging over the town, the sun warm on their skin and blinding to their eyes.

Eddie was wearing his sunglasses, but Richie needed his regular glasses to see, his one visible eye squinting in the bright light.

“What’s that?” Eddie asked, finger grazing the end of the patch. He could barely put his nail under the edge of it, a little lose and seeming to be easy to pull off.

“Mom says I have to wear it”, Richie was leaning his head in his palms, elbows on his knees and face turned towards Eddie, leaning into his touch. “Says it’s so this eye”, he pointed to his uncovered eye, “doesn’t stop working.”

“Oh”, Eddie’s finger had drifted down to stroke at Richie’s freckled skin now.

Richie’s lips turned downwards. “Do I look dumb?” Starting to shake his hair out to fall into his face, Richie tried covering it up. Eddie reacted instantly, not wanting Richie to feel insecure when he’d looked so happy only a second earlier.

“No!” Eddie exclaimed, head shaking desperately as he pushed Richie’s hair away from his eye again. “You look like a cool pirate!”

That made Richie smile, teeth peaking out between pink lips. “I do?”

“Yeah!”

“Argh!” Richie exclaimed, bending his index finger and leaning towards Eddie. Giggling, Eddie did the same.

“Argh!” he echoed.

Richie locked their bent fingers together, hands holding on to each other. “I missed you.”

Eddie hadn’t expected that response from Richie, instead waiting for Richie to keep up the pirate act. But Richie was smiling so brightly, his finger feeling nice around Eddie’s and Eddie could only feel happiness in his heart. “I missed you too.”

He couldn’t help himself when he leaned forward to press a soft kiss to Richie’s round cheek, pale skin already a little red from the sun. When he pulled back, Richie was staring at him wide-eyed, lips frozen in his smile.

Eddie’d never done that before. It was always the other way around; Richie kissing Eddie’s cheek. But Richie looked pleased at the gesture, soon leaning in to do the same, lips clumsily missing Eddie’s cheek and hitting his jaw instead. It made the two boys giggle.

“Wanna play now?” Eddie asked.

Richie nodded and the two stood up. Both started towards Richie’s toy cars standing on the porch, hands still linked.


	9. Kissing in the water: confessing feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: kissing in the water after confessing feelings

It was one of the hottest days they'd had all summer.

When Richie had woken up that morning with sunlight blinding his already blind eyes, warming his skin with its rays, he’d been quick to text the losers’ group chat to ask for a day at the quarry. It would be one of their last times down there before starting different colleges after summer, and Richie wanted to do it as much as possible.

All of them had responded with thumbs-ups and sunny emojis. It had all made him smile.

He was the first to arrive, already preparing for his skin to start getting burnt until Eddie arrived with sunscreen. Stan was the second to arrive, doing a double take when he noticed Richie.

“Stan my man!” Richie exclaimed, patting the bare rock ground next to him. “Come lie next to me, dahlin’.”

Rolling his eyes, Stan put his towel neatly on the ground, an amused smile breaking out on his face. “Since when have you ever been this early to a hang-out?”

“I originally left home early to squeeze in some much needed sexy time with your mom before coming here, but she was bus- _ow_!” he yelled as Stan pushed him over, laughter bubbling out of both of them.

“Asshole,” Stan grinned.

The others arrived soon after that. First there was Beverly holding hands with a blushing Ben, the two only recently starting to date, then Mike, Bill and Eddie.

When Eddie’s gaze had landed on Richie’s pink chest, he’d let out a frustrated squeak, immediately diving into his fanny pack for sunscreen and running over.

“What the fuck, Rich! You know you sunburn easily,” he muttered, already pouring streams of the liquid into his own hands. Richie could feel himself tensing up at the thought of Eddie’s hands on him, knowing his body wasn’t going to handle that without getting an erection.

He laughed nervously, trying to play it cool. “You gonna rub me all over, Spaghetti?”

Eddie froze, staring down at his own sunscreen covered palms as if just realizing what he was doing. Letting out an annoyed '_ugh_', he took a hold of Richie’s hand to pour the sunscreen there instead, drops spilling out from between Richie’s fingers, before he got up and settled next to Bill and Mike instead.

Richie couldn’t help notice the small blush on Eddie’s cheeks. It made him look a little sunburned too.

After managing to apply the sunscreen messily over most of his exposed skin except for his back, Richie asked Stan to help him.

And as Stan's fingers went over Richie's back, Richie peaked over at Eddie to see him glare at Stan openly, as if he thought nobody was looking at him. It made Richie raise his eyebrows, catching Eddie's gaze and cocking his head to the side in question.

Like a deer caught in headlights, Eddie's eyes widened, pretty browns reflecting the glitter of the water. With a huff, he put on his sunglasses and turned away to chat with Mike.

_Interesting_, Richie thought. _Very interesting, indeed._

Beverly was the first to jump into the water, everyone else following soon after, and the quarry soon turned into a battlefield of wrestling, swimming races and water drops flying in every direction. At some point, Richie managed to swallow a mouthful of water when inhaling too slowly while going underwater. He'd been a coughing wreck for the next two minutes. Nothing new, if he was being honest.

At some point Richie saw Eddie standing by himself a little further away from the group, and was it just his awful vision fooling him or was Eddie already looking at him? Richie had a sudden urge to pick him up.

"Eds!" he called, jumping forward on his toes to get closer before starting to swim. Eddie looked alarmed immediately, noticing the mischievous look on Richie's face and knowing what he was up to. Richie did this a lot.

"No, no!" He started swimming away from Richie's outstretched arms, but Richie had already gotten too close, and he picked Eddie up from behind and spun him around in the water.

"Why are you running away from me, Spaghetti?" Richie laughed, holding on despite Eddie's attempts to wrestle away. "I thought you loved me!"

"Richie, please let go of me," Eddie said, but Richie, not noticing the desperate undertone to Eddie's voice, just hugged him closer. Having Eddie so close was pretty wonderful, and Richie would use any excuse he could. He was simply too in love.

Eddie managed to turn around in Richie's arms. The turn seemed to be in an attempt to push him away with his legs, but instead it was what ultimately gave away what he wanted to hide from Richie.

Stopping all movement immediately, Richie looked dumbly up at Eddie, Eddie's hard-on pressing into the side of his thigh, glaringly obvious now. "Uh, is that…" He didn't know how to continue.

Eddie stayed quiet, his face bright red.

"Is it," Richie swallowed, "is it a random boner you're having right now, or is that a meaningful boner?"

That made Eddie wrestle away again, and Richie let him go without a fight.

"You're such a dick sometimes," Eddie mumbled, starting to move away. Richie saw the glistening in his eyes, and reached out desperately before Eddie could get away.

"No, no, wait," he laced their pruny fingers together, "I didn't mean it like that, I just, Eddie…"

"What?"

"I was just wondering what it meant, because if you got that 'cause you like me, then that's awesome", Richie wasn't even aware of what he was saying anymore, just letting his mouth talk freely. "'Cause I definitely know that _I_ like you like that too, like honestly I'm one hundred percent sure that I'm like fully in love with you and, and," he drifted off, his beating heart pulsing in his ears.

Eddie was staring at him with wide eyes, and he wasn't saying anything. Time passed, and he still wasn't saying anything.

Panic rose in Richie's chest. _Why wasn't Eddie saying anything?!_

"Fuck." Richie let go of Eddie's hand then, understanding settling over him and hurt sinking into his heart. "It was a random boner, wasn't it?"

He had totally just embarrassed himself completely, dumbly trying to reassure Eddie about something that didn't need to be reassured.

Feeling like absolute shit, Richie inhaled shakily. Tears were already collecting in the corners of his eyes. "I'm an idiot. Please just, just forget everything I said." He turned around, noticing how all the others were still in their own world and having fun splashing around. Needing to be in that world instead of his own, Richie started to swim over, desperate to escape Eddie's eyes.

"Richie, fuck, don't you dare", a hand grabbed Richie's ankle.

"Eds…"

"Richie," Eddie sighed, but he was smiling now. "I love you too. How the hell could I _not_ love you back? Like, that would be physically impossible for me."

The words took a few seconds to sink in, but as soon as they did, they enveloped Richie's quickening heart. Soon he was grinning like an absolute idiot. "Wait, seriously?"

Eddie nodded fondly, smiling just as big. "Yeah", he said through a happy exhale. "You just overwhelmed me for a second there."

"Wait, wait, wait", Richie was about to absolutely burst, "holy shit, did we just confess our love for each other?"

Giggling, Eddie grabbed Richie's hands. "Yeah, I think we just did."

"And all 'cause you popped a boner over me, awe," Richie cooed, placing his hands around Eddie's waist to pull him closer.

"Ugh, you're never gonna let me live that down, are you?" Eddie complained, but the smile on his face told Richie that he wasn't really that mad.

"Don't be embarrassed, it was peak romance." Richie's nose pushed against Eddie's lightly, letting them rub together for a moment. "Can I kiss you now?"

"Yes, please."

Both leaning in, their lips finally met.

Butterflies were going absolutely batshit crazy inside of Richie's stomach, his heart about to jump straight out of his chest. It took a few seconds of awkward fumbling to find the right angle, but soon their lips were fitting together perfectly just like Richie had always imagined.

It was gentle, soft, wet from the water, and soon their mouths were opening enough to let their tongues meet.

Eddie's hand settled around Richie's neck, fingers drifting up between his wet curls, and pulling Richie impossibly closer to him.

"What the fuck," a voice mumbled in the distance. "Are Eddie and Richie making out? Are you guys seeing this?"

Soon after there were several whoops and claps ringing through the air, enough to make the two of them break apart and turn toward their friends. All five of them were grinning madly.

"Actually yes, we were, and you guys just interrupted us!" Richie yelled. "Let us kiss in peace, thanks."

Then he turned back around to a giggling Eddie, not wasting any time to kiss him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you think! ♡  
Come be my friend on tumblr: moonlightrichie

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading !! Please let me know what you think, and come be my friend on tumblr: moonlightrichie. Send me prompts too if you want !


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